National Assembly Passes N7.4trn 2017 Budget

The two legislative chambers of the National Assembly has passed the 2017 budget proposal.

A total sum of ₦7.44 trillion was approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday following the adoption of the report from its committee on appropriation.

Earlier before the House committee on appropriation presented its report, there was a brief rowdy moment in the house when attention was drawn to the allocation of N51 billion to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Some of the lawmakers agreed with the allocation while others opposed it.

Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, then clarified the issue, explaining that the allocation is not meant for the SGF as an individual but for the parastatals under the SGF’s office.

Similarly in the Senate, the lawmakers passed a more detailed 2017 budget proposal to the tune of N7,441,175,486,755.

A joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives will now meet to harmonise the respective budget proposals passed by both legislative chambers before the harmonized document could be transmitted to the President for assent.

The 2017 budget proposal, termed “Budget of Recovery and Growth”, was first presented before a joint committee of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 14, 2016.

The Budget is based on a benchmark crude oil price of US$42.5 per barrel; an oil production estimate of 2.2 million barrels per day; and an average exchange rate of N305 to the US dollar.